Important Companies House Updates

From this week, Companies House will enact its new powers under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act to play a more significant role in tackling economic crime and supporting economic growth.

No further action is required from you at this stage; however, we have provided an overview of the key changes below. Further details are also available via the Companies House website here.

Confirmation Statement and address changes

Companies must now have an ‘appropriate’ registered office address. They will no longer be able to list a PO Box as a registered address.
On incorporation, subscribers to the company will need to confirm they are forming the company for a lawful purpose. All companies will then need to annually confirm its intended activities are lawful on their Confirmation Statement.
All companies will need to provide a registered email address for Companies House to use to communicate with the company when submitting their next Confirmation Statement. The email address will not be available to the public. If you are using our Registered Office service and we submit the confirmation statement on your behalf, we will use a dedicated email address for this purpose.

Increased transparency and identity verification checks

Companies will be required to provide full names of shareholders with additional disclosures providing increased transparency on owners.
Companies House will have greater powers to query and challenge information. There will be stronger checks on company names, and Companies House will use annotations on the register about potential issues.
Anyone setting up, running, owning, or controlling a company in the UK will need to verify their identity to prove they are who they claim to be, this includes all directors and any PSCs.
Companies House will have more effective investigation and enforcement powers and new powers to share data with law enforcement agencies and other government departments.

Filing changes

Whilst no timetable has been announced for implementation, it is expected that small and micro entities will need to file their profit and loss accounts with Companies House. Small companies that do not qualify as micro entities will also need to file a director's report and there will no longer be an option to file abridged accounts.
Any company claiming an audit exemption will need to give an additional statement from their directors on the balance sheet. Directors will need to specify which exemption is being claimed and confirm that the company qualifies for the exemption.

We will be updating our processes to ensure the above changes are factored into your services and you remain compliant throughout however if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.